Word Lists · N + S
5 Letter Words With N and S
Every five-letter word that contains both N and S, in any position — answer-eligible words flagged in green, tap any word to play.
How Many 5-Letter Words Have N and S?
N and S together still leave 917 words standing — a wider field than roughly 93% of letter pairings, so two yellow tiles cut less here than they feel like they should. The 111 answer-eligible entries are where the puzzle can actually land, and SANER is the strongest follow-up, clearing about 97% of what remains.
S is effectively anchored. 66% of these words (602 of 917) put it in the 5th slot: BONUS, MINUS, and on down the list. The exceptions are few enough to check by eye.
286 words on this list place N and S in neighbouring squares, DENSE, ENSUE, ONSET, PANSY included — a pattern worth probing before you assume the two are far apart.
Green-dotted words are answer-eligible — the everyday vocabulary the daily puzzle actually draws from — while hollow-dotted words are valid guesses you can play but that will never be the solution. Flip on Answers only to focus on the 111 words that can truly win the board.
Best Wordle Words With N and S
When N and S are both in play, the strongest guess keeps them and rules out as many remaining answers as possible. These three score highest across all 2296 possible answers:
- 01 SANER — eliminates about 97% of remaining answers on average.
- 02 SNARE — eliminates about 96.9% of remaining answers on average.
- 03 SNORE — eliminates about 96.4% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by First Letter
S·289 N·136 B·45 — the three biggest opening groups, covering 51% of the list across 23 letters overall.
N/S Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
The daily puzzle has drawn on this shape heavily: 85 words with N and S have been answers, leaving 27 answer-eligible words unused. Recent ones include SHONE (#1919), SNOWY (#1917), RINSE (#1913), SNIPE (#1878), the latest 0 days ago on 2026-09-20. The run goes back to STINK on 2021-07-03.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1919 | 2026-09-20 | SHONE |
| #1917 | 2026-09-18 | SNOWY |
| #1913 | 2026-09-14 | RINSE |
| #1878 | 2026-08-10 | SNIPE |
| #1865 | 2026-07-28 | SONAR |
| #1844 | 2026-07-07 | SLING |
| #1785 | 2026-05-09 | SATIN |
| #1768 | 2026-04-22 | SNORE |
| #1765 | 2026-04-19 | STAND |
| #1753 | 2026-04-07 | DENSE |
| #1752 | 2026-04-06 | SWORN |
| #1750 | 2026-04-04 | SANDY |
Never used as an answer
27 answer-eligible N/S words have never been the solution: ARSON, BISON, NOOSE, NOSEY, PANSY, SALON, SANER, SCION, SHEEN, SHINY, SINEW, SLAIN, SLANT, SLINK, SLUNK, SNEER, SNIFF, SNUCK , among others. Wordle avoided repeats entirely for its first 1,688 puzzles and only began reusing old answers in February 2026 — 24 times so far. An unused word is still the likelier bet, just no longer a certainty; see how repeats work for the full picture.
The other 806 words on this list are valid guesses the game accepts but never chooses as a solution. They still make useful probes for placing N and S, but when you guess to win, a green-dotted answer word is the smarter pick.
Where N and S Land in 5-Letter Words
The whole puzzle now is placement, so here is exactly where each letter tends to sit across the 917 words. Try the busiest square first.
| Position | Words with N here | Words with S here |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 136 | 289 |
| 2nd | 118 | 9 |
| 3rd | 325 | 48 |
| 4th | 272 | 43 |
| 5th | 96 | 602 |
Play a candidate that seats each letter in its busiest square and one of two good things happens: a tile turns green and you have locked a position, or it turns yellow again and you have eliminated the single most likely slot in one move.
How to Use These Words to Win Wordle
- Lead with the busiest square. N in slot 3 covers 325 of these 917 words and S in slot 5 covers 602 — try that shape before rarer placements.
- Favor distinct letters early. 692 of the 917 words here use five different letters and 225 repeat one.
- Then check for repeats. 103 of these words double up on N or S — SENSE, SUNNY among them. If your clues fit but nothing on the shortlist works, a repeat is the usual culprit.
- Lean toward an unused word. Repeats stayed at zero until February 2026 and number just 24 in 1916 puzzles, so the 27 never-used N/S words above remain the stronger bet.
Full strategy lives in the how-to-play guide, and you can practice any time on the unlimited Wordle board.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many 5-letter words have N and S?
There are 917 valid five-letter words that contain both N and S in any position, and 111 of them can be a Wordle answer. Turn on "Answers only" above to narrow the list to answer-eligible words.
What is the best word to guess with N and S confirmed?
SANER — it keeps both letters and still eliminates about 97% of the remaining answer pool. SANER, SNARE, SNORE are the top three by that measure. See more best Wordle starting words.
Where do N and S usually sit in these words?
N most often lands in the 3rd position (325 of 917 words) and S in the 5th (602). That is a strong enough lean to guess on directly.
Which N/S words have been Wordle answers?
85 of them, out of 1916 puzzles so far. The most recent was SHONE (#1919) on 2026-09-20, and the first was STINK on 2021-07-03. 27 answer-eligible words have never been used, including ARSON, BISON, NOOSE, NOSEY. Browse the full past Wordle answers archive.
Do these words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once N and S show as present you must reuse them, so this is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 692 of the 917 words use five distinct letters and 225 repeat one, which matters because hard mode will not let you drop a confirmed letter to test elsewhere — see the how-to-play guide.
Are there 5-letter words with N and S next to each other?
286 of the 917 words place N and S in neighbouring squares: AEONS, AGONS, AIRNS, ALANS, AMENS, AMINS, among others. The remaining 631 keep at least one square between them.
How many N/S words have no repeated letters?
692 of the 917. Those are the ones that reveal the most board per guess, so they are the better probes early on. The other 225 double up on some letter, and 53% of the full list carries two or more vowels. For a full clue-by-clue solve, send your board to the Wordle Solver.